Potential opposition from a handful of Republicans threatens to put Exxon Mobile CEO Rex Tillerson on a very small list of Cabinet appointees the Senate has rejected over the past two centuries.
Since 1834, just nine nominees have been stopped by the Senate from joining a presidential candidate, and the most recent occurred nearly three decades ago.
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Only seven current Senate lawmakers were in office the last time the chamber thwarted a presidential cabinet appointee. On March 9, 1989, the Senate voted 47-53 to reject John Tower, who was President George H.W. Bush’s pick for Defense Secretary.
It took just one Republican joining every Democrats to block Tower, and they did so for personal and professional reasons.
“FBI summaries of hundreds of interviews indicated that Tower had a record of alcohol abuse that would make him an unreliable link between the president and the armed forces, they contended,” CQ reported at the time.
Democrats also pointed to Tower’s consulting contracts with weapons builders as a reason to reject him to head what was at the time a scandal-ridden Pentagon.
Tillerson could face questions over his own professional contacts. At least four Senate Republicans have said they have doubts about Tillerson because of his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who awarded Tillerson with the nation’s highest honor, the Order of Friendship.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., called Tillerson’s ties to Putin, “a matter of concern.”
With a mere two-seat majority, Senate Republicans could afford to lose the support of only two GOP lawmakers, but not three, since Democrats are likely to vote in lockstep against him. Vice President Mike Pence would be able to break a tie vote in the event of a 50-50 tie.
If his prospects appeared dismal, Trump could withdraw Tillerson, which has happened just seven times in U.S. history, most recently in 2009, when President Obama was forced to pull Sen. Tom Daschle, who he had nominated for Health and Human Services Secretary, because of unpaid taxes.
The rarity of a cabinet rejection, however, is one of the reasons everyone in the GOP may eventually support Tillerson, some Republican lawmakers suggested, particularly since Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, are backing his nomination.
“I think ultimately he’ll be confirmed,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told Fox News on Wednesday.
If not, Tillerson will join a less desirable Washington short list of those who got voted down, provided here courtesy of the the office of the U.S. Senate Historical Office:
Name: Roger B. Taney
Nominated by: Andrew Jackson
Nomination Position: Treasury
Date Nominated: June 23, 1834
Date Rejected: June 24, 1834
Vote: 18-28
Name: Caleb Cushing
Nominated by: John Tyler
Nomination Position: Treasury
Date Nominated: March 2, 1843
Date Rejected: March 3, 1843
Vote: 19-27
Name: David Henshaw
Nominated by: John Tyler
Nomination Position: Navy
Date Nominated: December 6, 1843
Date Rejected: January 15, 1844
Vote: 8-34
Name: James M. Porter
Nominated by: John Tyler
Nomination Position: War
Date Nominated: December 6, 1843
Date Rejected: January 30, 1844
Vote: 3-38
Name: James S. Green
Nominated by: John Tyler
Nomination Position: Treasury
Date Nominated: June 14, 1844
Date Rejected: June 15, 1844
Vote: not recorded
Name: Henry Stanbery
Nominated by: Andrew Johnson
Nomination Position: Justice
Date Nominated: May 27, 1868
Date Rejected: June 2, 1868
Vote: 11-29
Name: Charles B. Warren
Nominated by: Calvin Coolidge
Nomination Position: Justice
Date Nominated: January 10, 1925; renominated March 5, 1925
Date Rejected: March 10, 1925
Vote: 39-41
Name: Lewis L. Strauss
Nominated by: Dwight Eisenhower
Nomination Position: Commerce
Date Nominated: January 17, 1959
Date Rejected: June 18, 1959
Vote: 46-49
Name: John G. Tower
Nominated by: George Bush
Nomination Position: Defense
Date Nominated: January 20, 1989
Date Rejected: March 9, 1989
Vote: 47-53
